HC Deb 09 December 1971 vol 827 cc1491-3
16. Mr. Small

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the effect of measures announced on 23rd November, 1971, on the level of employment in the construction industry in Scotland.

Mr. Bryan

The measures we announced on 23rd November are only part of the considerable stimulus we have given to the national economy and to the development areas in particular. The various measures we have taken should provide an appreciable and growing number of jobs for Scottish construction workers.

Mr. Small

I do not think that the efforts of the Government have been so satisfactory. Will the hon. Gentleman examine the statement made by the Prime Minister in Glasgow, where the regulations are so tight that the £1 million to assist amenities is as yet unused?

Mr. Bryan

I will certainly examine the statement and its consequences. I must point out what has been done in Scotland for the construction industry. There have been increased housing improvement grants; special help on the Stonehouse project; £60 million public infrastructure—that is 37 per cent of all spending in the country on the infrastructure; £17 million on various environmental and improvement projects; and the work of the Scottish Housing Association. This all adds up to the most tremendous boost.

Mr. Redmond

Will my hon. Friend expand on the figures he has given for the building industry? Are there not local shortages of building workers which hinder some of the development schemes of the Government?

Mr. Bryan

This is so. I have not firsthand knowledge of Scotland on this, but when I go to Newcastle on Wednesday this is one problem which I have to look at. I have discovered that there are shortages of craftsmen, and we hope to be able to help in training, and so on. As my hon. Friend says, this shortage is holding up building.

Mr. James Hamilton

Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that, as the C.B.I. has said, many measures which have been introduced are of a temporary nature and will not solve the unemployment in Scotland? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in the steel construction industry, of which I am a member, there is serious redundancy? If the Government were desirous of doing so, they could introduce public works to give employment to these workers and to ancillary workers.

Mr. Bryan

This is not merely a question of the figures produced and the amount available. The push that is going from the central Government to the local authorities, pressing them to get on with this work, is very considerable. We are doing all we can.

20. Mr. Adam Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's estimates of the effect of measures announced on 23rd November, 1971, on the level of employment in the Scottish mining industry.

Mr. Bryan

The bulk of the investment which the National Coal Board is bringing forward is in assisted areas but it is too early to say at all precisely what effects this will have in Scotland.

Mr. Hunter

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the National Coal Board's share of the capital works expenditure will have little or no effect in providing mining jobs in Scotland? If he is anxious to safeguard existing mining jobs, will he ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to restore the ban on the importation of expensive foreign coal?

Mr. Bryan

In general, redundancies in mining are due not so much to lack of demand for coal but to the closure of high-cost pits.

Mr. Douglas

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there is a considerable shortage of coking coal? Should not he and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry enter into discussions with the National Coal Board on the exploitation of the considerable reserves of coking coal in Scotland?

Mr. Bryan

I will certainly bring the hon. Gentleman's question to the attention of my right hon. Friend.